Hey hey, here's a theme question: Christmas is coming (and has been for weeks, according to every retail outlet in the country, the bastards) and the goose is getting fat. Do you gift books to people? If so, how do you choose? Is there some book you gift to people all the time? I think my family expected me to give books at Christmas for a long time, and then they stopped expecting it when it didn't happen. I only ever get books for the kids - Maurice Sendak has made a fortune off me. But books for people who actually DO read is almost more difficult than books for non-readers. And both are difficult, so I just don't do it, traditionally. And vanishingly few people get really excited when they pull off the gift-wrap and find a book. If there's some fool-proof way of gifting books to one and all, please share this wonder with us.
(Of course this all reminds me of when my friend Heather bought me Tuesdays With Morrie and it was the moment I realized we'd be great friends for a long time. I was polite - she asked if I'd read it - I said I hadn't - she looked at my smiling face as I read her little note inside the front cover - and she said "Oh fuck I KNEW I shouldn't pick out a book for you, it's terrible, right? This is like the worst book ever, I bet, and the whole world but me knows it. You're never gonna read it, right? You probably make fun of this book all the time with your books friends. GOD. Fucking Oprah." We still laugh about it. The best of intentions from a person clearly clueless, bless her heart. I mean, really - Tuesdays with Morrie. For me! Fuckin-A, man. That shit's hilarious.)
Anyhoozenhauer, as I was saying: Monday. SBD. Get crackin.
7 comments:
I want to read about V. I haven't watched. Do you loathe it like so many other people seem to?
I'm going to contrast and compare two British historical/mystery series featuring independent, fiesty young women . . . or maybe I won't.
Let me just say that Philip Pullman does it better.
I've got a twofer as my last two posts are about stuff I've read. The official SBD post would be the one about Poul Anderson's Demon Journey, though.
I'd gift books if my dang relatives read any.
Books usually make up more than half the gifts I give. My whole family reads. Some fiction and others non fiction, but they all like books. last year I think I did like 90% of my shopping at Amazon...
Yes, I give books. The last few years, though, along with a book I’ve added a book store gift certificate and an envelope. It is a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope. I ask them to send me a note recommending books I might read in the coming year. Usually they also let me know what books they bought.
My family reads. But I don't give a lot of books unless they are specifically requested, except for my mom. I buy her historical fiction because she LOVES it. For her birthday last month, I gave her Ariana Franklin's City of Shadows and Dave Boling's Guernica.
Kris_W wins for most awesome idea ever.
None of my fam reads books, either. Even just a gift card to B&N would be of little use. So sad. But I do often order everything from Amazon, because (a) they have nearly everything, (b) free super saver shipping!, and (c) no fucking 10.25% sales tax. It's just sad that the only books in my virtual shopping cart are for myself.
So I had a mini-meltdown in re my SF plans tonight (the exact and only tour I wanted is on vacation next week) so am left without time to blog anything. But about V, for Kate: I don't loathe it, I just think they went and made it really fucking boring. The whole reveal, how the aliens are evil lizards beneath it all? That was the awesomeness of the original - the shock and horror of it, the big reveal. And this one, it's revealed in a throw-away line of dialogue. No swallowing of guinea pigs! No ripping someone's face off! No one seems especially stunned by this whole INVADING LIZARD ALIENS ON EARTH (!!!) thing. It's all so blasé. Ruins the whole schtick.
I guess it's because it's pretty cliché so they don't bother going through the predictable motions. But DUDE - that moment when the original Diana unhinged her jaw and dropped in the giant rodent? Was a seminal moment of my youth. Even though the effects are laughable by today's standards, it's still so fantastic. There's no reason to get rid of the great stuff.
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